There are those who think that it's a bit inconsiderate of wine makers in foreign countries to use any language other that English on their wine labels.  I mean!, how are we supposed to tell what is what when few of us can barely manage enough French of Spanish to be able to order a beer.

It's not as if us British need to learn another language -Everyone speaks English - Don't they?   Oh - well we're not actually very good at learning other languages, so what can we do?

It's easy - just print off these pages and read over them, by the time you reach the end you will be armed to the teeth with all the necessary phrases and terms required to understand those foreign looking labels.

In this article we look at a typical example from five European wine producing countries.

A wine label apart from being a wines passport is also an advert upon a bottle which allows the wine producer a small moment in time in which to tell the wine drinker all they need to know about the wine– or are they?

You see, not every wine producer jumps at this opportunity to share the delights of their winemaking skills and even worse some producers insist on writing their wine labels in foreign languages – Unbelievable!!

Well not actually, you see because we buy so much European wine here in the UK many of the wines that we import have labels written in French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Fortunately this balance is redressed by the fact that most of the New World producers (Including those in South America) produce labels for the intended market, which consequently means you’ll be hard pressed to find a New World label not written in English.

Wine labels were first introduced around 1860 when the widespread sale of bottled wine first became popular. Since this time wine producers have been implored by Law to continue this fashion and are required by these laws to display certain information on the label. The amount of legally required information seems to increase annually. However wine producers are obliged to adhere to the following categories.

1. Wine Designation: This refers to a wines alleged quality. If it’s from within Europe the wording must determine between the different categories of wine i.e. Table Wine/Quality Wine etc. Non-European wines are not obliged to dispay this information.

2. Geographical Reference:  This can be anything from the country of origin right down to the individual area.

3. Volume of Wine: Typically 75cl.

4. Alcoholic Strength: Usually stated as a percentage.

5. Vintage Year: If a vintage is stated on a European wine then  a minimum 85% of the wine must be produced in the stated year.

6. Name and address of Producer/Bottler: Usually straightforward but often just reduced to a Postcode.

7. Varietal Information: An optional category. If used in Europe the wine must be made up from 85% of the named variety. In the New World the amount is usually a minimum of 75%.

8. Government Warnings: Some countries require warnings to be printed on the labels. More common on US labels than any other country where you can find warnings for pregnant women, asthmatics and those operating machinery.

In order to help you understand wine labels further, the following section looks at the different phrases and terms found on European wine labels. Click on the countries flag to find out more.

Quality Indicators Vin de Table – Basic table wine that can come from any region of France. No quality controls. Vin de Pays – wine from a designated region of France with quality controls that are less strict than those for AC wines. Also says Vin de Table on the label. Vin Delimite de Qualite Superieur (VDQS) - In between Vin de Pays and AC wines in quality. Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AC) - The highest quality of all French wines. Designated regions with strictly limited production and quantity that vary according to the appellation. Many larger AC (eg AC Bordeaux can include many other smaller (and higher quality) AC for example AC Saint Emillion and AC Margaux.

France – other wine terms

Briques neuves – New oak barrels.

Blanc de blancs – White wine made from white grapes.

Blancs de Noirs – White wine made from black grapes.

Clos – Walled vineyard.

Cremant – Sparkling but not as frothy as champagne.

Cru – A vineyard classification.

Cru Classe – Classified wine.

Cuve - A vat or barrel.

Cuve Close – Sparkling wine made in tanks (not as good a quality as sparkling made by the methode champenoise)

Cuvee - contents of a barrel or vat.

Deuxieme Vin – The second wine of a chateau or estate, more common in Bordeaux than other parts of France.

Doux – Sweet.

Futs de Chene – Oak barrels. When a label says Eleve en Futs de Chene

Grand Vin – Literally translates as great wine – but is most certainly not a guarantee of quality.

Grand Cru – In Burgundy and Alsace it indicates a specific legal/geographical definition.

Grand Cru Classe – Specific chateaux in Bordeaux judged to be superior in some way.

Methode Champenoise – Sparkling wine made in the same way as champagne.

Millesime – vintage.

Mis en bouteille dans nos caves –  Literally meaning bottled in our cellars.

Moelleux – Sweet.

Mousseux – Sparkling or frothy.

Negociant – Indicates a merchant who will buy wine before bottling it for sale.

Nouveau – New

Perle – Lightly sparkling.

Pertillant – Sparkling but less so than champagne.

Premier cru –  A legal/geographical definiton in burgaundy, usually indicating high quality. The same in Bordeaux when suffixed by classe.

Societe – Company.

Sur lie - (or tire sur lie) wine bottled off its lees (the natural sediment).

Vendange Tardive – Wine made from grapes that are picked late in the season, often making sweet wines, more common on Alsace labels than others.

Vin Ordinaire – Table wine.

Vin Tranquille – Still wine.

Vignoble – Vineyard.

Germany

Legal definitions of quality

Tafelwein – Table wine – A basic wine coming from anywhere in Germany.

Landwein – Similar in definition to French Vin de Pays. A tafelwein that can come from any one of 15 different designated areas within Germany.

Qualitatswein bestimmter Anbaugebeite (QbA) -  A Quality wine from one of 11 demarcated regions.

Qualitatswein mit Pradikat (QmP) - higher in quality than QbA wine, with legal requirements to attain a minimum natural sugar level.

The categories of wine within the QmP quality level are further divided in ascending order of sweetness. They are as follows:  kabinett, spatlese, aulese, beerenauslese, eiswein and trockenbeerenauslese.

Germany - Other wine terms

Abfueller – Bottler.

Aus eigenen lesegut – Producer’s estate wine.

Bereich – Wine district, containing a number of Grosslagen.

Eiswein – Very sweet wine made from grapes picked when they are frozen on the vine in the winter months.

Erzeuger – Producer.

Grosslage – Smaller area contained within a Bereich.

Halbtroken – Half dry - Between dry and medium-dry.

Perlwein – Lightly sparkling.

Spritzig – Semi-sparkling.

Weinkellerei – Winery.

Weinzergenossenschaft – Growers’ co-operative.

Spain         

Legal definitions Vino de Mesa – (VdM) The equivalent to Table Wine – the most basic of all Spanish wine and generally made up of wine produced in unclassified vineyards or wine that has been declassified because of blending. Vino Comarcal (VC) – A regional status applied to certain producers of Table wine whose wines fall outside of the Local DO requirements. Vino de Tierra – similar to French Vin de Pays in that it covers wines from a large region. Producers do however have to conform to certain local norms. Denominacion de Origen (DO) - Demarcated regional system with each wine having to attain certain minimum quality requirements set out and monitored by the local Consejo Regulador. Similar to the AC system in France. Denominacion de Origen Calificada (DOCA) – Relatively new category introduced to recognize areas of superior quality. Rioja was the first region to attain DOCA status.

Ageing Definitions

Sin Crianza – Not aged in wood – young wine.

Crianza /con Crianza -  Aged in wood

Reserva – Generally means a wine which is at least three years old with one year ageing in barrel.

Gran Reserva – Normally a wine that is at least three years old with at least two years ageing in barrel.

Other wine terms

Bodega – Wine cellar, winery or name of a wine company

Clarete – Light red

Consejo Regulador – The local wine governing body which controls wine production within each DO.

Cosecha – Vintage.

Vendimia – Vintage i.e. the year of harvest.

Vina/vinedo – Vineyard.

Vine de l’anne / cosechero / nuevo – New.

Portugal

Legal Definitions Vinho de Mesa – Table wine. Many of Portugal’s good wines come into this category, due to the lack of formal legal structure for wine quality control. Indicacao de Proveniencia Regulamantada. (IPR) – This is a second tier of the DOC system in Portugal. Similar to Vin de Pays in that it covers producers in a wide area who conform to local methods. Denominacao de Origem Controlada. (DOC) – Previously known as Regiao Demarcada (RD) – Similar to Spain’s DO or France’s AC systems.

Other wine terms

Adega – large cellars where the wine is bottled.

Carvalho – oak.

Clarete – light red.

Engarrafado na origem – estate-bottled.

Espumante – sparkling.

Garrafeira – vintage wine (at least five years old for reds).

Quinta – Farm or Estate

Reserva – Vintage wine

Velho – old.

Vinho verde – green wine  which reflects its youthful state rather than its colour– white or red wine and sometimes sparkling, but always from a specific region.

Italy       

Legal Definitions Vino de Tavola (VT) Table wine, but also includes some of Italy’s best wines which are made from non-indigineous grape varieties . Indicazione Geografica Tipica – Introduced in 1992 as an approximate equivalent of French Vin de Pays and intended as a system to encourage the expensive wines contained within the Vino de Tavola system to change their classification. Denominazione di Origine Controllatta (DOC) – Similar to the French appellation controlee system. Denominazione de Origine Controllata  Garantita (DOCG) - Higher classification – six wines only.

Other wine terms

Abboccato – slightly sweet.

Amabile – semi sweet.

Amaro – bitter.

Asciutto – bone dry.

Auslese (Alto Adige only) – sweet.

Botte – Barrel.

Cantina – Winery.

Casa vinicola – Wine company.

Chiaretto – Deep rose.

Consorzio – Promotional group of producers.

Drizzante – Semi-sparkling.

Imbottigliato da – Bottled by.

Liquoroso – High in alcohol (can be sweet).

Nero – Dark red.

Recioto – Alcoholic sweet wine made from passito (sun dried) grapes.

Riserva – Wines with specific ageing.

Riserva speciale – More age than straight Riserva.

Superiore DOC – More alcoholic or higher quality than DOC.

Vecchio – Old.

Vino novello – New.

In recent times producers have sought many ways to make their wines more appealing to the eye and as a result our shelves are now full of bright, bold and colourful labels. Some have short essays printed on them and take advantage of an additional rear label to print more information. Others choose a minimalist approach and use artwork or designs to convey their message.

There are web-sites and books devoted entirely to wine labels. Below are links to some of the better sites.

http://users.cybercity.dk/~bbl4053/vinetiket_uk.htm

http://www.stratsplace.com/labels.html

Our own preferences for wine labels falls into the strange and weird. We particularly like the labels of Bonny Doon Vineyards as examples of great design.

http://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/home.html We also think that the wines of Chateau Mouton Rothschild also deserve a special mention for their use of a different artists work each year for their top wine.

http://www.stratsplace.com/labels_mouton.html If you have any interesting labels that you want to share then send them in .jpeg format to info@grapeescape.co.uk But, please remember just because there’s a nice label on the front does not necessarily mean that the wine inside is equally as good.